Archived from the original on Retrieved Carroll, Oliver. Retrieved 13 November 2017. 39 Referee Fahad Al-Mirdasi of Saudi Arabia was removed in over a match-fixing attempt, 40 along with his two assistant referees, compatriots Mohammed Al-Abakry and Abdulah Al-Shalwai. 16 17 Teams Qualification Main article: 2018 fifa World Cup qualification For the first time in the history of the fifa World Cup, all eligible nations the 209 fifa member associations minus automatically qualified hosts Russia applied to enter the qualifying process. The 100- ruble commemorative banknote celebrates the 2018 fifa World Cup.